Last winter, a guy named Dan was visiting the coffee shop where I work on a regular basis. He told me lived in Berlin and built bamboo bicycle frames. He showed me his website and we talked about getting some frames to test out.
Dan is now in need of some funding in order to make this happen, so he created a KickStarter project, check it out.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J8EPwf4yBw&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
Dan and Matt are both guys I remember from MoBo, the bike co-op, when it first started 5 years ago. Last year Matt and I worked together to help get donations for the annual fundraiser. Now Matt and Dan are living the dream in Berlin, building rad bamboo bikes, and I want to help them out. More importantly, I want to test ride one of their bikes.
These frames are hella sweet.
Donate a few bucks to their mission, will ya? You might even get a frame to test out.
I miss Gilligan’s Island.
pass
Yep, nice idea perhaps, but I find all the bamboo frames I’ve ever seen unspeakably ugly. I just couldn’t do it. Sorry Judi.
it’s been done… http://boobicycles.com/bikes/us/
Those frames look cool, and it’s an appealing notion to be sure, but dang they must be heavy and flexy. I’ll stick with the crabon/crabon plasticky thang.
Steel or walk.
Steel is also heavy and flexy compared to crabon/crabon plasticky pieces. Suit yourself, I’ll wait at the top of the climb. :)
joe, take a walk.
I would ride one, would be a cool looking ride , definitely not off the rack , I heard that bamboo was actually stronger then steel in some cases if you can believe that. I bet it has a stiff ride , Gives new meaning to the word going green.
I’d go to great lengths to get my hands on a bamboo 29r. I like the look. Thanks Judi.
Flintstones, meet the Flintstones…
heh heh, do you drag your feet to stop? You’d also want to practice hollering “WILMA!!” at the top of your lungs.
I don’t know, this thing just reaks of “I wanna be different”. I’m sure it is rad an all that good shit and I’m sure there is some social consciousness element that escapes me due to my inadequate level of enlightenment – but all I can think of here is a big splinter in the crotch when this thing explodes upon impact of whatever.
Bamboozled
Oh yeah, and “…heavy compared to…” is bullshit. Steel as God intended vs. crabon or bambu or frootloops in a smugness matrix is-what?-maybe two pounds per bike. Add wheels. Add drivetrain. Add cockpit and brakes and shifty bits. Add 150 or 200 pounds of rider. That’s two-three pounds difference on 165 pounds MINIMUM, ready to ride. Make it my Clydesdale ass plus fenders, sensible tires, rack, panniers, handlebar bag plus a frame that’s sized to fit a six footer and you’re talking fly shit.
Oh, and I’ve got thirty-forty year old steel frames that ain’t showin’ any significant rust. Nah, you need a better argument than that.
@Joe— well, you’re wrong again. The Trophy Bike is stiff as a board and weighs 16#; I weigh 170#. I have a decent steel bike which comes in around 22# and I’m LUCKY if I can climb as well on its 36t as the Trophy Bike’s 39t. That’s a ten percent difference. No worries, I’ll wait at the top of the climb.
No, I ain’t “wrong again”. But if it helps ya sleep nights to say so, be my guest.
I ride what works and what is reliable and comfortable. Stiff as a board? 16#? Sounds like it would work a treat for some midlife crisis Fred who wants to emulate emaciated shaved-down Italians. Walter Mitty much? Thought so. Not that, yaddayadda. Been there, done that. But personally, I don’t see anything in your “trophy” but a sore back after an hour and a wet ass when it rains.
Oh yeah, and wait all you want at the top of the hill, Fredalicious. I’ll be the old man on the steel bike with the beer in my panniers. But you gotta be first everywhere, so I won’t ask you to wait. And how did you get the idea that I give a fuck who gets where first?
And as far as 36t vs. 39t, there’s a new invention called a “triple crank”. 22:28 on my old steel HooKoo gets me up just about any hill. Them that it don’t, the 24:34 on my 1976 Raleigh Supercourse will. For the life of me I don’t know why I’d ever want more than that.
Unless my crapulator is off (unlikely) you come in at 192 steel and 186 unobtanium, which makes it closer to six percent. And you ain’t gonna tell me the twelve pounds difference is all in the frame. Build both bikes identical and I bet you’re still only looking at a couple-three pounds.I bet I’ve crapped bigger.
But now I know how you got so fast, not that I give a rat’s patoot about such crass vulgarities. You ditched math class and went-how you Freds say?-“training” instead.
@Joe— you’re being a moron. Again. Hey, I’m happy to stand around chit-chatting and sipping cyto-beverage while you finish sweating and grinding the rest of the way up the hill… I prefer to ride “no drop.” It’s all good, brother.
The ten percent difference I cited was between the ratios offered by the 36t versus the 39t. The Trophy Bike climbs better on the 39t than my steel bike does on the 36t. You’re right, it’s not all weight difference, it’s flex. Steel is flexy and doesn’t climb as well as crabon/crabon plasticky pieces.
It’s actually warm, so I’m out for another fifty miles today. Enjoy the ride!
And what, pray tell, is moronic about you enjoying your bike, me enjoying mine, and me not giving a fuck about the difference between the two? But again, if calling me names helps ya sleep nights, or makes your shorts feel alittle fuller, then by all means be my guest.
Joe, it’s moronic to insist that steel climbs as well as crabon/crabon. This is quite simply contrary to firmly established physical fact.
Beyond that, I think we both enjoy riding quite a bit— it’s a brotherhood I’m proud to belong to. I got yer back. I dig the “steel is real” ethic, and it makes me kinda sad to see my ‘cross bike hanging up with zero miles on her this season. At the same time, I adore the fancy new crabon/crabon hardtail that’s replaced her for trail riding— the fact is, it’s faster and just as smooth as the steel ‘cross bike. It’s an amazing machine. Crabon/crabon is a superior material of construction for a bicycle frame for practical reasons, if not aesthetic ones.
Mikey, I never said steel climbs as good as carbon. I just don’t give a fuck. Do try to keep up. As to “practical considerations”, I’m down like a clown, Charlie Brown. As long as one includes the practical considerations of sensible tires and fenders, brazeons (do they call them that on crabon frames?) for whatever accessories might ease my day, and a proper fit, given my preferred riding position.
Of course it will be a cold day in August before I will justify the cash outlay for a frame that only saves me a pound or two, but even if I could, I just think lugged steel looks ahellofalot prettier. And anyway, what I have gets me to the store or the post office or just away for an hour or so, and it always brings me home. That’s plenty good for now.
Oh yeah, and one man’s “flexy” is another man’s “rides like a pink cloud carried on the shoulders of angels”. I don’t think I’d WANT to ride anything so stiff I feel every pebble.
@Joe— okay, I see what’s going on here. You’ve never ridden crabon/crabon, have you?
Ignorance is bliss. Dude, the Trophy Bike rides BETTER THAN STEEL. It climbs like a dream— BETTER THAN STEEL. Why suffer more than necessary? Because you “think lugged steel looks ahellofalot prettier?” That’s hipster bullshit, right there. My crabon/crabon mountain bike rides BETTER THAN STEEL. Maybe you’re not hip to basic engineering principles, and I can sure understand gagging on the price tag, but crabon/crabon is a superior material for the construction of bicycle frames. QED.
Here’s something I’ll bet we can agree on: “aerodynamic” frame sets are stoopid, despite what darn near every “high end” manufacturer would have you believe. Let me get this straight— you want me to pay extra for poorer NVH characteristics and tortured cable routing so I can (supposedly) save one calorie per kilometer? Screw that.
The douchesphere is so thick in here that bamboo smells like this panda’s only hope. Thank Lob I started drinking again.
Mikey-
1-I’m not ignorant. I’m poor. You’re a leftie liberal. Ain’t there something in your code of “ethics” that says it ain’t cool to pick on the less-able, economic-wise? Oh wait, I’m also a conservative. Nevermind.
2-I have always thought lugged steel was pretty. Menniemenniemenniefreakin’YEARS before anyone on this planet even knew what a hipster was.
3-Aero is bullshit. Lighter by a couple pounds is bullshit. Stiffer frames is bullshit. Calling a ride to the post office or down the C&O to clear your head “junk miles” is bullshit. Unless you seriously truthfully race for a living. Me, I been married 30 years. Don’t talk to me about “suffering” on Alp d’Huez. Ride what you like. If your choice enhances the experience, I’m happy for you, seriously and for real. But damn, buddy! Ain’t we spent enough time beating this dead horse? Me, I’m getting back to my bottom-shelf vodka and cranberry juice until Mrs. Joe calls out, “Supper’s ready”. Take care, pal.
damn, who would have thought that Archie Bunker was so into bikes
Ignorance and poverty customarily go hand-in-hand. Just sayin’.
Sadly, ignorance and self-proclaimed “conservatism” go hand-in-hand these days. To wit:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/asa-sct032612.php
You like heavy and flexy, have a blast. Maybe it’s better you’ve never tried crabon. See you out there, rubber side down.
Son, I was into science when you were just an itch in your daddy’s pants. And I wouldn’t be so poor if the dogeater wasn’t hellbent on making everyone equally miserable. “Fair share”, whatever the fuck that means.
“Ignorant and poor”? So what are you pulling down? America deserves an answer. And guess what? I’ll ride to places you’ve only dreamed of without crabon. Or not. Either/or is okayfine with me.
seriously?
Are you still here? Go cook something, whydontcha.
joe, grow a cock and fuck something, will ya? you need a good nut, it sounds like.
You comin’ on to me?
@joethedouchebag: this is of course a virtual world, so even a limp dick piece of shit cocksucker like yourself can say anything they want with supposed impunity. But let me say this: My name is Tim Joe Comstock. I post at Trailer Park Cyclist. I am a real, live, breathing steel-riding cyclist who comes here for the honored company of my fellow riders but you ain’t one of them; You have more than once insulted my friend Judi in terms that go beyond getting your ass kicked; you mother fucker, if you ever make your fat-assed way into my company I will promise you this: only one of us will walk away.
So what are the coordinates of this so-called “company”?
In fact, I ain’t done. JOE. You fake bad ass pussy. I will meet you on your own ground. Post up a local address where you want to meet and I will hitchhike or ride a bus or otherwise get to you and kick your sad ass wherever it is. Or, come on down and meet up with me on my turf. What better place to get your ass kicked than the Daytona Beach Band Shell?
You motherfucker. C’mon. Bring it. I hate you. That ain’t a safe place to be.
Son, you don’t scare me. Now THAT really ain’t a safe place to be.
Oh, and not that your welfare check will pay the bus fare, but I’ll meet you at mile 124.5 on the C&O canal. After 1700 local or on a weekend because (unlike you) I work for a living.
You are such a pussy. Coordinates? I live on an easily located trailer park on the side of the highway in Volusia County. You fucking faggot fake, drop out of this fight. Better yet, drag your sorry ass on down here and get your ass kicked fair and square. You are not worthy.
I hate you, Joe. That’s a big difference from being mad at you.
I Hate You.
tj
Well, Joe, my welfare check doesn’t cover much travel expenses, but now I have a cross-hairs. Hold still.
Ain’t goin’ nowhere, sweetcheeks. Unlike you, I own my little slice of heaven.
So when’s the big day?
Nothing yet? What a surprise.
Joe, I want to apologize. I was typing while drinking. You are by far the most intelligent and erudite person posting on this site. The fact that I am going to blow my brains out just after this post is
Ummm, lock and load?
Just don’t shoot each other.
Yeah, well, it’s the day after and now I have another reason for my self-loathing; I let a troll sucker me in once again. It has only happened once before, but even once is reason enough to stop being an intertard dweeb. Ain’t it bad enough that I am an incurable bicycle dork?
Joe, ya got me. Congratulations. But once again, I have to say this: you spew your fake John Wayne right-wing buffoonery and in the next breath you show disrespect to a woman. That ain’t American. Judi runs a damn fine Blog; she races bicycles and does community service and fights a good fight and bares her soul for all to see and she conducts herself in a far more gentlemanly manner than I have ever seen from you.
She is ten times the man you are and she is a woman. She doesn’t need me to stand up for her and in fact I am reasonably certain she would kick your crusty ass in a face to face at any time and any place.
Judi, I apologize for dragging you into this but where I come from we treat even the low-down ladies with respect; but you are not low-down, you are an ass-kickin’ role model and Joe: You ain’t shit.
TPC, no worries. we all lose our shit from time to time. my skin is thick, i can handle the cruel comments on this site. people like you keep me posting though, so thanks guy. XXOO!
Poofters.
bgw most of all.
joe is nothing in comparison.
Where’s my beer ??
Let’s all take a time out……..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tr0otuiQuU
so then no bamoo?
At Mikey…You must not put much into your 22lb steel bike. Here is a stock steel bike at 17.0 http://jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/eclipse/12_eclipse_spec.html
So yea, now what! I’ll see you ‘at the top of the hill’ and man up and quit bitching about some weight on your bike, you’re not riding in the tour or anything.
Judii,
You know we can hook you up with a test ride, as a matter of fact, we could prolly loan you one for a week or so to test ride it, as long as you write about it afterwards. As far as the Carbon Fiber, Steel debate goes, We all love our bikes for what ever reasons we choose, thats what being an individual is all about. Bamboo bikes are just out there to give people one more choice. As far as building a bike, The process of building one of these and / or riding one is Zen in itself, and that perhaps is reason enough.
Side note… I am not affiliated with Ozone Cyclery, Daniel just helped us build our project bike which turned out great.